I'm torn between relief and excitement- the writerinadrawerresults have just been posted and I (thank ye lords!) have made it through to the next round! XD I'm feeling relief because for one terrifying moment, when I realised the results were up, I honestly expected to see my draw grayed out. And excitement because it wasn't and I'm through! Yeah!!

I asked the mod for any feedback- positive or negative on my entry and she told me I'd recieved the following:"Score: +1A really believable moment between Jack and Ianto, and an almost necessary one following Out of Time. Subtle yet poignant."

So, predictably I'm rather smiley at the moment. I'm posting my entry up here also, to find out what my dear flist thinks of the fic, so please do let me know your opinions- good and bad!

Title: What Happens Tomorrow

Rating(s): PG-Rated

Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto

Warning(s): Possible spoilers for ‘Out of Time’.

Lyric: You've got to believe it'll be alright again / We've got to believe it'll be alright in the end.

- - -

“This is the last place I expected to find you.” Jack said, his words whisper soft as he stepped out onto the rooftop of the Millennium Centre. Ianto stood at the near edge of the building with his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. He inclined his head in acknowledgement of Jack’s words but said nothing and Jack was left with the impression that Ianto had been waiting for him to turn up- sooner or later.

The Captain smiled; his lips curving upwards with the gesture that did not quite reach his eyes as he stepped closer, his footsteps an echo across the panelled wood of the rooftop. He stopped beside Ianto, his body turned towards the other man as he regarded him intently. Ianto shifted after a long moment of scrutiny, shooting Jack a dark look as he was forced to further respond to the Captain’s presence.

“Sir?” Ianto enquired, his tone a polite contrast to the fire burning in his eyes.

“What are you doing up here, Ianto?” Jack asked.

“Trying not to be too predictable, sir.” Ianto answered waspishly.

“Predictability was never your problem,” Jack replied wryly.

“No,” he agreed, raising a hand to his face and pressing long fingers into the softness of his eyelids- the gesture done as if in some misguided attempt to push back the images and memories that plagued him so often of late. “It never was.”

“Ianto?” Jack reached out, placing a strong hand upon the other man’s shoulder. Ianto tensed beneath his hold but Jack did not let go.

“I- look, I’m sorry.” Ianto breathed, dropping his hand from his face. He stared unseeingly out over the brightly lit Bay; Christmas lights sparkling almost classily against the black backdrop of the night sky.

“There’s nothing to apologise for.” Jack squeezed at his shoulder.

“I don’t like fighting with you,” Ianto continued as if unhearing and Jack gave a hum of agreement. “But sometimes… god, Jack, sometimes it just gets so hard to breathe and I can’t- don’t hold back. Not with you. And after what happened with John I just- ”

He trailed off, turning to look at Jack who smiled at him sadly. They’d only hours ago laid John Ellis to rest in the Morgue and though Jack had stashed his coat and Ianto’s car, showered and plastered his patented grin upon his face- somehow Ianto- tight-lipped and sullen- had known that the elder man wasn’t the only who’d tried (both failing and succeeding) to kill himself this evening.

“It’ll get easier,” Jack promised, without apology, “we’ll get easier,” Ianto shook his head. “It will,” he urged, “We’ve just got to learn how to… how to breathe again, Ianto; how to breathe and love and let someone else in.”

The laugh he received to that was anything but mirthful and Jack urged Ianto to turn, reaching out to nudge the Welshman’s face upwards and holding him in place.

“You’ve got to believe it’ll be alright again.” Jack moved closer, his brow furrowed as he stared deeply into Ianto’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Though Ianto shook his head he was already reaching up, grabbing Jack’s hands in his own and holding them tight. He pressed a long kiss to the knuckles of Jack’s right hand, feeling the Captain’s fingers tighten around his own.

As I said in my email reply: I thought your fic worked just fine with the way you incorperated the lyrics! And with everyone weaving their's into their fics, I'd have thought you'd get points for keeping it as a song. Go figure! Either way, you made me angst over Owen (which as you know is a great acomplishment!) and you're through to round three! So we can only strive to be better next time :)

and nice, lovely piece. a perfect moment dovetailed into the epi. that epi so needed something to wrap it up between the two...at least i thought it did *g* and you did a beautiful job taking ianto out of his 'normal' environment and slapping him into jack's, addressing 'life' and what it means to both to live.

cause really, it shouldn't just be jack (and horatio cain - csi: miami) looking all sexy (or obscene in horatio's case) on top of those rooftops. ;)

Thank you! :) and cheers for reading, darling! I felt that having Ianto on the rooftop helped give him a bit of standing with Jack, the invasion almost of Jack's 'place' allowing Ianto to address the concern and hurt he feels over the situation with some level of authority. ...well, that was the intention anyway!

And you're right, Ianto should have some sexy time ontop of tall buildings ;)